The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council has dealt with reports of antisocial behaviour because there is insufficient evidence of fault. We cannot investigate matters relating to enforcement action that the Council took against the complainant, because this has been subject to court proceedings, and because it happened too long ago.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will call Mrs X, complains about how the Council has dealt with her reports of antisocial behaviour by her neighbours. Mrs X also complains about enforcement action it took against her in 2012, when she says the Council lied to the courts.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6)) We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended) We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant, their representative and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
The complainant had the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.
My assessment
In response to Mrs X’s complaint about antisocial behaviour, the Council visited her neighbour who denied the allegations. The Council provided Mrs X with antisocial behaviour diary sheets, which it has asked her to complete and return. The Council has explained that it needs this information to investigate the matter further, but so far Mrs X has not returned a completed diary sheet. The Council has also offered to meet with Mrs X in person to discuss the issues, but she declined the offer. The Council say it cannot take any action because Mrs X has not provided sufficient evidence to support her claims.
I will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the Council has failed to take appropriate action in response to her reports of antisocial behaviour. The Council has told Mrs X what information it needs from her to proceed with an investigation, and it is for Mr X to decide whether to engage with this process. I have seen no evidence to suggest there has been fault by the Council in its handling of this matter or that it failed to follow its normal procedures.
I cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about enforcement action taken by the Council against her. This is because the matter has been subject to court proceedings which places it outside of our jurisdiction.
Even if there were elements of Mrs X’s complaint that did not form part of these proceedings, we would not investigate them. This is because the events happened too long ago, and I see no reason why she could not have complained to us sooner.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is no evidence of fault in the Council’s recent actions and other maters have been subject to court proceedings and are also late.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman